Summary

Jeremy Rifkin, the author-activist who's never met an engineered gene he liked, kicked off a new campaign against the use of human genetic data on 21 May in Washington, D.C. With endorsements from members of women's health movements in 69 nations, he unveiled a campaign that will attack the patenting of breast cancer genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 and push for new laws to limit access to human genetic data in research, medicine, and commerce. But like other coalitions he has put together in the past to oppose genetic engineering, the members of this coalition may have different agendas.